This time it’s JOGLE
Horsington’s demon cyclist, Chris Bailward, is currently in the wilds of Scotland on the early stages of an epic 1100 mile John O’Groats to Lands End (JOGLE for short) cycle ride.
He’s done it in reverse before, in 2014, but this time he’s doing it the easy way, as its obvious to anyone looking at the map that it’s downhill all the way! Moreover, he’s assisted by a power-assisted cycle which will give him a boost up any hills he encounters.
Previously Chris has done a circumnavigation of France, Ireland, Sicily-Horsington, the 4 corners of Britain and Every English county town, so this trip is just business as usual.
It did not get off to a good start. Chris went to Scotland by sleeper from London Euston. He booked his (electric power-assisted) bike. It was only when he got the ticket and read the small print that he discovered that the Caledonian Sleeper will not take electric bikes, even though you can’t tell them apart from normal bikes. Other railway companies will carry , and even welcome them, so why not Caledonian Sleeper?
He tried in vain to find out why, but was met with a wall of silence. Eventually the Blog contacted the Caledonian press office to obtain a statement from them. Again silence. The Blog then contacted the Serco chief of media relations Charles Carr, who promised a response, and again nothing.
Serco, one of Britain’s worst companies, owns Caledonian Sleeper, but clearly has no influence over its press office.
The story gets worse. Chris bought a different electric bike, with a detachable motor, and this was allowed on the train (he put the motor in his bag). However, when he got to Edinburgh at 4am, where the train divided, Chris was woken up by the guard and told to move his bike to a different carriage, an impossible task for a sleeper employee. Not a good start to an adventure.
You can follow Chris’s adventures on his entertaining blog at www.bailward.co.uk. JOGLE is not up at the moment owing to poor internet connections in the far north of Scotland, but in the meantime you can read about his other voyages there.
Good luck Chris. See you in September in time for the Horsington Open!